It’s no secret I’ve had real issues with the ZX6R since buying it. The thing was a lemon, with a smashed gearbox and dreadful handling. Two gearboxes later the bike was mechanically sound, but I just couldn’t get it handling.
Last season we found the issue with the rear shock, in that the installed spring length was completely incorrect. Correcting that meant the back end could perform properly, but I still couldn’t get the bike to turn in. It was horrendous. Taking the bike out of the van after a frustrating Castle Combe, the steering seemed jammed. I pulled on the bars and a loud ‘CRACK!’ alerted me that something wasn’t right. In taking the steering damper off to get to the head bearings, I realised that for some reason the damper was on almost the highest setting. Quite how I’d never noticed this I don’t know. Going to Donington, I wound the damper completely off, and set off for first practice. What a revalation! The bike turned in as I’d wanted for years! The bars did get a little too flappy down Craner Curves, so a quick chat with Dave Manley suggested a couple clicks on the damper would be enough. In the race that’s exactly what I did, and it was perfect. The issue I then had was that the bike really didn’t want to hold a line.
At Anglesey I bit the bullet and asked Colin Leeder at 100% Suspension to have a look at the bike. We’d made a load of radical changes trying to get ti to steer, so I knew it was likely to be miles off. Sure enough, Colin confirmed that the bike was essentially a chopper, and that it had virtually no damping. A few twiddles and he had the thing tracking beautifully. It’s incredible how it’ll now hold a line as I ease off the brakes on the way in, or on the power exiting corners! the turn in is fast, it’ll hold a line beautifully and I can actually put it where I want to on the track.
Colin did then further increase the damping, as the frequency of sessions on the track day was hating the oil more than it would on race day, and again the improvement lead to faster times.
I’m astounded by the transformation in the bike, and really really excited to ride it again. The races at Anglesey proved I can be far further up the field than I’ve ever been on the ZX6R, so here’s hoping I can capitalise on the good work of everyone who’s helped me.